European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Jim Delosada and his two children Check out a tank on the Presidio grounds now part of the National Park service. Everyone wants a Niece of the Presidio by Richard Colette associated press mouthwatering Patch of the country s most valuable Urban land turned into a National Park saturday to Blossom one Day into a think tank for the world and a playground for 10 million visitors. Or else a Black Hole for  or a greedy $20 billion land grab. After 218 years As a military base under Spain Mexico and the United states the Presidio joins  holdings of the National Park service but there s never been a National Park like the Presidio. It encompasses 5 percent a 1,480 acres a of san Francisco the nation s most expensive City. It boasts a View of the Golden Cate Bridge and san Francisco Bay in addition to forests dunes trails. And beaches the 6th army Headquarters includes 510 historic buildings a state of the Art medical _ research Center  Golf a course Tennis courts and More. Too valuable a prize to Reserve Only for san franciscans or californians or even americans say visionaries Quot it should be a global Center a great learning Center bringing together individuals and organizations working Quot on the world s pressing environmental and social issues Quot says Robert Chandler the Park service official who Heads the Presidio project. The department of Energy has a already declared the Park will be Quot the world s Foremost training Institute for sustainable  and not incidentally a Model of the Clinton administration s Public private _ partnership theme. It s not hard to sell the idea of. Working in a historic building that sits in a Park at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge Only Miles from Stanford the University of California at Berkeley Silicon Valley and dozens of research facilities. Cov emment quasi Public agencies and private companies Are All eager to move in. In addition there s the endangered Plant communities sea Lions open space Bike trails and planned museums for residents and  Quot Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks each attract 4 million visitors a year Quot says . Sen. Barbara Boxer a Calif. Quot by contrast it is projected that the Presidio will attract 10 million or  but that Bright vision is being challenged. The underlying threat is the staggering value of the land. When the army began decommissioning the base officials estimated they could sell off chunks for $500 million. _ Way too Low says real estate attorney Neil Eisenberg whoop reserved on the Park s advisory committee but has become a vocal critic of the process. If developed on an Urban scale with skyscrapers and condominiums the Presidio s real value could be $20 billion he says. And private developers Are ready to step in once the Park service realizes How expensive running the Presidio will be. Congress has allocated $25 million for Park expenses each of the first two years making it the most expensive National Park in the United states and the real Cost of running the Park could reach two or three times that figure. Building maintenance takes the blame for the High costs. The Parks service finds itself stuck with keeping up 870 structures on the Presidio. The Agency is backing a Bill by . Rep. Nancy Pejoski d-Calif., which creates a private Public Presidio Trust to administer and lease the buildings. T. The Trust would implement the global Village think tank concept filling the buildings with rent paying tenants to Chip away at the $25 million without _ inviting in Oil companies and chemical factories. V. A an army reversal has complicated a a a matters. After agreeing to decommission the base the defense department informed the Interior department it was t really leaving after All. The 6th. Army will continue to use 40 percent of the Presidio buildings As its. Quot Headquarters for at least five years. And by the Way the army said Well keep the Golf course for officer morale a a decision that stunned Park supporters who had hoped to use the Golf course for Revenue during the . The army s decision also struck a nerve with a growing chorus of critics a a who complain the Presidio planning process was run behind closed doors. Powerful organizations appeared to be cutting up the cake. But Chandler insists that everything t. Was done by the Book with endless Public hearings and Public bids when legally required. Quot there were no secret deals and conspiracies Quot he said. Short subject smoking ban helps prisons come clean _  associated press uptight and jumpy Daryl Claypool fidgeted in his narrow Cellblock while watching a game of 500 rom. Quot i used to play cards but now i Don t have any concentration a complained Claypool a convicted rapist and burglar. To can t get into it now. I m letting Guys beat me that Don t even know How to play Quot the problem a week before Butler county a prison had outlawed smoking. And Claypool who used to smoke about 100 hand rolled cigarettes a Day bugler tobacco 95 cents a Pouch was dying for a smoke. Welcome to the lockups of the 90s, where cigarettes a once As much a Staple of prison life As bars and bad food a Are becoming contraband. Quot it s definitely a trend and i think we re going to see More of it in the future Quot said Stephen Ingley executive director of the american jail association. I from Seattle to Tampa hundreds of jails across the country have banned smoking in recent years including lockups in Illinois Nevada Utah Oregon West Virginia Georgia and California. Many prisons have set aside no smoking areas though few if any Are completely smoke free. At feast eight county jails in Pennsylvania have banned smoking in efforts to improve prisoners health and forestall possible lawsuits according to Bill Strock an inspector with the state s department of corrections. More Are planning to follow suit and state run prisons recently banned smoking in common areas. It is permitted in individual cells. Maintenance problems Are one big reason for the bans. _ Quot you have to take into consideration How so doing contributes to deterioration of facilities. There of Are bums on furniture clogging of vents yellowing of Walls Quot Ingley said. In addition there Are health and Legal concerns last year the . Supreme court ruled that exposure to harmful amounts of secondhand smoke May sometimes violate a prison inmate s constitutional rights. The court let a Nevada inmate pursue his claim that being forced to share a cell with an inmate who smoked five packs a Day violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Although inmates have claimed that the bans have caused tempers to flare More easily officials say that. So far depriving Quot inmates of cigarettes a an addiction As Welt As a form of currency in prisons and jails a has not led to the feared increase in tension and bloodshed. As for Claypool he grudgingly admitted he is breathing More easily than when he used to _ smoke into the Early hours of the morning. Quot it s better for my health Quot he said Quot but a worse for my . Monday october 3, 1994 the 5tar5 and 5tripes 15